Yale University s High School Invitational September September, 0 Student Congress Information Packet For Contestants, Judges, and Coaches
Tentative Schedule :0-:00 Debate Registration Friday, September, 0 :00-0:00 Speech and Congress Registration Saturday, September, 0 :00 Judge Meeting T.B.A. :-: Session One :0-:0 Session Two :00-0:00 Session Three :00 Breaks Posted Online Sunday, September, 0 :00 Elimination Round Judge Meeting T.B.A. :-0: Semifinals :00-:00 Finals :0 Awards Assembly
Official Rules Important Note: The information in this packet is tentative with regard to the preliminary round format. If numbers drop significantly between the release of this packet and the beginning of the competition, the tournament reserves the right to adjust the numbers and procedures accordingly. The rules contained herein are designed to promote procedural unity among the chambers. They are subject to change by the staff at any time, but they may NOT be altered or ignored through a suspension of the rules by the chamber. CHAMBER DECORUM: Each preliminary chamber is designated a HOUSE. A member of the House of Representatives is always referred to as Representative. The Presiding Officer is addressed as Mister/Madam Speaker. LEGISLATIVE DAY: A legislative day is one session. Speaker order (recency) resets after each session. AGENDA ORDER: Each chamber may determine its own agenda based on the order of the legislation assigned compiled in the tournament docket. PRESIDING OFFICER NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS: There is one () elected Presiding Officer in each session. No legislator may serve in that office for more than one session if there are other willing candidates within the chamber. The Parliamentarian using a secret ballot conducts elections. A majority vote is required to elect a candidate. RECOGNITION OF SPEAKERS: Presiding officers must use precedence when recognizing speakers. This means that presiding officers must choose speakers who have spoken least (or not at all). The only exception to precedence is when the speaker has authorship privileges. In this case, precedence must be broken in order to recognize the author as the initial speaker of the newly introduced legislation. Presiding officers should employ recency once precedence has been set. This means that the presiding officers should select the speaker who has spoken least recently (or earliest). Before precedence is set, the presiding officer must choose and explain to the chamber the manner in which speakers will be recognized. Only two methods are strictly prohibited: activity and longest standing. o Activity The presiding officer may not select speakers based on who has already been recognized for questions and/or motions. o Longest Standing (Standing Time) The presiding officer may not track how many times speakers stand to be recognized.
LEGISLATION WITHOUT AN AUTHOR: For the purposes of debate, the author shall be the student who drafted the legislation. If the author of a bill or resolution is not present in the chamber, withdraws from the tournament, or waives service as the author, a sponsorship speech is in order. Sponsorship is determined by recency. The sponsorship becomes accountable for the mechanics of the legislation and must yield to two minutes of questioning by the chamber. The Presiding Officer may not step down in order to take the floor as an author and/or sponsor. QUESTIONING DURING PRELIMINARY COMPETITION: A mandatory two-minute questioning period follows all authorship, and sponsorship on amendment speeches. A two-minute questioning period also follows the first negative speech on any item of legislation. The Presiding Officer shall recognize legislators who wish to ask a question of the speaker; the speaker MAY NOT perform this function him/herself. All other speeches will have a mandatory one-minute questioning period that may not be suspended. Questioners may only ask one question at a time. Thus, the Presiding Officer has an obligation to rule two-part, misleading, or irrelevant questions out of order. AMENDMENTS: Legislators must submit amendments in writing. A motion to amend is necessary to consider the written amendment. Once the motion is made, the Presiding Officer decides if the amendment is germane. The Presiding Officer may consult with the Parliamentarian to make this decision. If the amendment is found not germane, the chair rules it out of order and the amendment process stops. If the chair rules the amendment germane, the chamber considers the amendment. In this case, the presiding officer reads the amendment to the chamber. A / rd second of the members present in the chamber is required to debate the amendment. If the chamber votes a second, debate on the amendment commences immediately. There is no minimum cycle requirement for amendments, so legislators may make a motion to table or call the previous question on the amendment at any time. The first speech on the amendment is a sponsorship speech. The chair determines speaker recognition for the sponsorship speech on the basis of recency; the author of the amendment is not guaranteed the sponsorship speech. The sponsor accepts responsibility for the mechanics of the amendment and yields to two minutes of questioning. All amendment speeches receive a score and count towards recency. A majority vote is necessary for the chamber to adopt the amendment.
VOTING: The Presiding Officer determines the method of voting on each question that comes before the chamber, except for final votes on legislation, amendments, and motions to appeal to the chair, a recorded vote must be taken. On all other votes, voice voting is acceptable. A recorded vote must follow if: o any member asks for a division; or o a member of the chamber moves for a roll call vote and the motion is agreed to by / th of the chamber. All simple majority votes are based on the number of legislators present and voting in the chamber. Therefore, the Presiding Office may not call for or count abstentions. For all votes requiring a fraction of the chamber to agree to a motion or question (/, /, /, etc.), the chair determines whether the chamber agrees with the motion/question using the number of legislators present in the chamber. Thus, the Presiding Officer must track the number of legislators in the chamber at all times. INTERNET CONNECTIVITY: During the course of debate on a piece of legislation under consideration, use of the Internet shall be strictly prohibited. Internet may be used during recesses called by the chamber or during the time period between sessions, but may not be accessed during motions of personal privilege. Both judges and peers present in the chamber shall monitor inappropriate use of the Internet. Concerns should be brought to the Parliamentarian in a discreet manner that has limited impact on the flow of the chamber. The Parliamentarian will then bring these concerns to the attention of the tabulation staff. EVIDENCE RULES: Students shall be responsible for the validity of all evidence they introduce to the floor. This includes, but is not limited to: facts, statistics, or examples attributed to a specific, identifiable, authoritative source used to support a claim. Unattributed ideas are the opinion of the student competitor and are not considered evidence. At minimum, students are expected to orally deliver the following when introducing evidence: primary author(s) name (last) and year of publication. In the event that the source is a periodical or government publication, the title of the publication may be substituted for the author.
Evidence violations shall include: o Distortion the textual evidence itself contains added and/or deleted word(s), which significantly alters the conclusion of the author (e.g. deleting not ; adding the word not.) o Non-existence Student citing evidence is unable to provide the original source or copy of the relevant pages when requested by a tournament official. Original source provided does not contain the evidence cited. o Clipping when the student claims to have read aloud the complete text of highlighted and/or underlined evidence when, in fact, the contestant skips or omits portions of the evidence. o Straw argument claim introduced by an author for the purpose of refuting, discrediting or characterizing it. Reliance on a straw argument occurs when a student asserts incorrectly that the author supports or endorses the straw argument as his or her own position. In order to protest a piece of evidence, a student must secure from the Parliamentarian a formal protest form only during the recess immediately following the legislative debate during which the accused violation has occurred. In the event that Orders of the Day have been called, the same rules apply, but the student filing the complaint will have five minutes to complete this form and turn it into the Parliamentarian. This form shall require the student filing the protest to provide: o Full citation of the evidence in question o Identification of which evidence violation has been committed o A detailed explanation of what exactly was said by the competitor being questioned (verbatim if possible) o Provision of the piece of evidence demonstrating that student filing the protest had prior knowledge of evidence in question and that it was not accessed via Internet during the course of the debate o Student must sign form and acknowledge that a false accusation could result in the loss of ranks earned for that session. Student must file the complaint with the Parliamentarian prior to the end of the chamber s recess or within five minutes of Orders of the Day being called. The Parliamentarian will contact the tabulation staff immediately and an appointed protest committee will make a determination as to how to proceed. If requested by a tabulation staff member, students must be able to provide a printed or electronic.pdf copy of the evidence with the referenced materials(s) highlighted.
Preliminary Competition Format This year s Congressional Debate division features twelve () chambers. There are three () sessions of debate in the Preliminary Competition. Each session consists of three () hours of floor debate. There is one () elected Presiding Officer in each session. For purposes of this competition, one complete session is a legislative day. Priority for speaking resets at the end of each legislative day. Thus, all legislators will have zero speeches at the start of each session. A Parliamentarian and a Scorer will evaluate each chamber. The Parliamentarian remains in the chamber throughout the preliminary competition, while the Scorers rotate to different chambers throughout the tournament. The Scorers evaluate every speech that is given in a session, rating them on a scale of to ( is low; is high). The points awarded by a Scorer for a given speech can thus be used to determine NFL points for that speech. The Parliamentarian keeps notes on the overall performance of each legislator and will write formal ballots, including an evaluation for each Presiding Officer, awarding him/her up to NFL points on the basis of his/her performance during a given session. At the end of each session, the Scorer and the Parliamentarian will each independently nominate eight () students for Best Legislator during the session. Each Scorer and Parliamentarian s nomination form is converted into credits by the Tabulation Staff with the st place legislator receiving credits, the nd place legislator receiving, and so on. Those students who were not ranked will receive zero (0) credits. The three () students from each chamber who have earned the highest number of judge credits during the Preliminary Sessions will advance to the Semifinal Round. At the conclusion of the third session, the students who ranked fourth through ninth on the basis of judge credits will be placed into nomination for advancement by peer preference. If there is a tie in determining nominees for the election, the tie will be broken using inverse reciprocal ranks, followed by head-to-head competition, followed by Parliamentarian s preference. During the conduction of the peer preferential advancement, the Parliamentarian s ballot will break any ties. Finally, each Parliamentarian ranks the top 0 students in the chamber at the end of the third session on the basis of their overall legislative performance during the course of preliminary competition. The highest-ranking student on this record (Parliamentarian s Preferential Rating) who has not advanced from preferential balloting or judge credits will then advance to the Semifinal Round. Thus, seven () legislators qualify for the Semifinal Round from each chamber as follows. students on the basis of total judge credits. students on the basis of peer preference. student on the basis of Parliamentarian s Preference
Judge Instructions for Opening Congress Meeting JOB OF A STUDENT CONGRESS SCORER Evaluate the Best Legislator Students should be evaluated based on the demonstration of various skills not just speaking. This means students should be recognized for participating in setting the agenda, making motions, asking questions, etc. ROLE OF THE PRESIDING OFFICER In order to ensure that students are able to do this in a fast, fair, and efficient manner, a presiding officer is absolutely necessary. Rounds cannot happen without presiding officers. Students are sacrificing their opportunity to speak to serve the community. This is a leadership position. Good presiding officers are hard to find and amazing presiding officers are a rarity. This is because students feel disadvantaged when they preside as judges often forget that we are looking for the Best Legislator and not the Best Speaker. Bad presiding officers will result in chaos in the chamber and thus, the lack of opportunity for students to participate in debate. Thus, in order to encourage individuals to preside, not only do we offer a gavel to the best presiding officer, but also we highly encourage you to place the presiding officer in your final ranks. Failure to rank the presiding officer must be accompanied with a detailed explanation as to why the presiding officer failed to keep order in the chamber or demonstrated a lack of leadership. SPEECH SCORES You should be in Congress now! - You are amazing and will be in Congress some day! You are a good competitor, keep working. You had a lot of problems today. Requires a very detailed explanation. You spoke for a very short time, like a minute and half. Requires a very detailed explanation. - You were offensive. Requires a very detailed explanation.
TYPES OF CONGRESS SPEECHES All of Equal Value in the Round Students Demonstrate Skill by Performing Different Types of Speeches Constructive: o There is no such thing as a first affirmative. The first affirmative speech is a constructive speech introducing the legislation to the floor for debate. o It can be either an authorship or a sponsorship speech. o They should establish for the judge the purpose of introducing the bill to the floor for debate. You should be able to listen to the constructive and understand what the proposed piece of legislation advocates without reading it. o In prelims, legislation is tied to the diocese. Only a student who has authored a bill is guaranteed a constructive speech. Any other student may give a sponsorship if a member of the diocese is present. Rebuttal Speeches: o Rebuttal speeches directly refute an opponent s argumentation. o Rebuttals do not simply list the names of opposing legislators. Extension Speeches: o Extension speeches take a previous argument and extend the line of argumentation. o Extension speeches are not rehash, if and only if, some new nuance of the debate is brought forth. o Speeches may be a combination of rebuttal and extension. Crystallization Speeches: o Happen at the end of the debate. o Weigh both sides and try to convince you why one side is better than the other.
ONE-SIDED DEBATE The purpose of debate is advance arguments. Students should be prepared on both sides of the legislation. Thus, one-sided debate is highly frowned upon. If everyone is in agreement, then there is no debate. Students, in this event, are not required to advocate on every bill. CALLING THE QUESTION Students should feel comfortable calling the previous question when debate has become one-sided or debate has become stale. It is not rude to call the previous question if these conditions exist and people still want to speak. One of the skills of a limited prep event like Student Congress is being able to flip one s points if one really wants to give a speech on a particular piece of legislation. No minimum cycle, no maximum cycle
Chamber Assignments General Information for Contestants Find your name on the next page. Remember to NOT panic if you do not have your code. Simply use only your last name when speaking from the floor. Do not use your school name to identify yourself during the course of any session of the Congress. Bolded names indicate that a representative has submitted legislation for the chamber s consideration. Legislative Calendar Legislation has been assigned to the same chamber as its author. All legislation assigned to a chamber must be debated before the chamber may debate legislation assigned to a different chamber. Legislation assigned to a chamber may not be tabled for the purposes of moving forward to another chamber s legislation. In the event that a chamber completes its entire agenda: o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber 0 o Chamber 0 will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber o Chamber will debate items from the docket of Chamber
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi NOTE ABOUT AGENDAS: We don t have to tell you that the first rule of speech and debate is be a good person. In fact, we firmly believe that your generation understands the concepts of equity and equality better than any previous generation. We provide the legislation two weeks in advance so that you can prepare great speeches on a limited number of bills rather than prepping 0 or more bills that you may never speak on. However, there are number of coaches who criticize this practice because they believe it shuts out new voices and unfairly benefits larger programs and students who can afford to attend summer enrichment programs. We believe it gives you a unique experience to learn how to effectively network and collaborate with your peers. Here is your opportunity to help ensure that our community of Congressional Debaters embraces the norms of equity and equality. We cannot stop you from creating agendas in advance, nor is that our desire. Our desire is that you demonstrate leadership by actively seeking inclusiveness. When creating agenda setting groups: Make sure you have included everyone in the chamber. Prioritize your wants. Know where you are willing to compromise. Listen to everyone s desires by asking for input. Experienced competitors should mentor younger debaters. Established teams should reach out to new programs. If you are new to the activity, don t be afraid to reach out first! Most importantly, don t set anything in stone. Recognize that there may be individuals that you were unable to reach. At the start of the in-house caucusing period, ask those who were unable to participate for their thoughts. Be willing to give a little in order for everyone to feel included.
CHAMBER Luca Zislin Andreas Pantazakos Darren Roberts Bhamini Vellanki Bhargav Kansara Jade Yagur Arham Habib Viktoria Popovska Charles Gagnon Leah Goodkin Nick Drury Zach Goldschmid Liam Broderick Mariema Sarr Sohail Mohammed Brandon Cowit Dany Matar Ryan Psik Amy Nankin Angelica Sabol Andreas Kapsalis Phillip Ruddy American Heritage School - Plantation Chaminade HS Charles W Flanagan HS Durham Academy King High School Lake Highland Preparatory Monte Vista Montville Natick High School Newton South HS Regis High School Roslyn HS St. Joseph's Prep Success Academy Manhattan HS Syosset HS The Bronx High School Of Science Thomas Jefferson HSST Trinity Preparatory School Walt Whitman Wellington HS Xaverian Xavier High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO ABOLISH COMMODITY CHECK OFF PROGRAMS 0 SECTION. All currently existing federal commodity check off programs will be terminated. Government promotion and research funded by check off dollars will be discontinued. SECTION. Commodity check off programs shall be defined as funds collected from producers of an agricultural commodity to promote and do research on that particular commodity. SECTION. The United States Department of Agriculture will be responsible for the implementation of this bill. SECTION. All Commodity Check off Programs will end immediately upon passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Luca Zislin American Heritage Plantation
B/R #0 A BILL TO CUT THE FUNDING TO ISRAEL 0 SECTION. The U.S. shall cut 0% of all military aid sent to Israel from this point on and convert it into humanitarian aid to be provided to The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) SECTION. "Military aid shall be defined as any weapons, commerce, etc. provided with the intent on improving a countries military Humanitarian aid shall be defined as any money, medical supplies, etc. provided with the intent of improving a country s living standards SECTION. The Department of State will oversee the enforcement of this bill. SECTION. This bill shall be enforced at the beginning of the fiscal year 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Darren Roberts Charles W. Flanagan High school
B/R #0 A BILL TO DECLARE NORTH KOREA A STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR SECTION. North Korea Shall be declared a State Sponsor of Terrorism. SECTION. State sponsor of terrorism shall be defined as described in Title US Code Section 0A. SECTION. The Department of State shall be responsible for the monitoring and sanctioning the North Korean government as specified. SECTION. This legislation shall take effect on January st 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Arham Habib Monte Vista High School
B/R #0 A RESOLUTION TO URGE GREECE TO GIVE UP THE NAME DISPUTE WITH THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA 0 WHEREAS, The Republic of Macedonia is in a name dispute with Greece; and WHEREAS, The name dispute between the two countries has caused the Republic of Macedonia to be denied entry into pivotal organizations such as NATO; and WHEREAS, Greece has been smothering the voice of the Republic of Macedonia in the international community and international organizations at a critical time for the Republic of Macedonia; and WHEREAS, The restriction of entry into NATO for the Republic of Macedonia causes the country to be seen as only a guest in NATO and is unable to reap the full benefits of being a member of NATO; and WHEREAS, The internal crisis within the Republic of Macedonia is worsening; therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Student Congress here assembled make the following recommendation for the country of Greece to give up their claims over the Republic of Macedonia s name so that the country may gain entry as a member of NATO; and, be it FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Student Congress here assembled make the recommendation for the rest of NATO to urge Greece to give up their claims over the Republic of Macedonia s name so that the country may gain entry as a member of NATO. Rep. Viktoria Popovska Montville Township High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO SECURE DACA 0 SECTION. The full text of the BRIDGE Act (introduced as both H.R. and as S. ) is hereby enacted. SECTION. The BRIDGE Act codifies the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program by providing three years of provisional protected status to certain eligible unlawful aliens. To receive the status, aliens must meet a series of requirements, including but not limited to: having entered the United States before age, and having not been convicted of a felony or significant misdemeanor. SECTION. The Department of Homeland Security will implement the policies stipulated in the BRIDGE Act. SECTION. This legislation will come into effect upon passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Charles Gagnon Natick High School
B/R #0 A RESOLUTION TO CREATE A DEPARTMENT THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEMOGRAPHICALLY BLIND JURY SELECTION TO INCREASE THE CHANCES OF A FAIR TRIAL 0 WHEREAS, Prosecuting attorneys have a history of using race and gender to select a jury against a defendant; and WHEREAS, Current selection procedures only disadvantages most likely the defendant by forcing them to be judged by a group that is rarely of their peers; and WHEREAS, This does not allow for the defendant to have a fair trial and violates the th Amendment; and WHEREAS, Numerous appeals occur over the demographic lack of diversity of juries arising from the selection; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Congress here assembled forms a committee responsible for investigating methods to make Jury selection is demographically blind allowing for a fairer jury selection. Rep. Mariema Sarr Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts
B/R #0 A BILL TO MAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FREE TO HELP AMERICAN STUDENTS 0 SECTION. The United States federal government will eliminate tuition costs for students in good standing at two-year community colleges. SECTION. A. Students in good standing refer to individuals who attend at least half time, maintain a. GPA, and make steady progress toward completing their program. B. Community colleges that qualify must offer transfer programs or occupational training certificate programs with high graduation rates SECTION. The Department of Education will oversee implementation of this legislation. A. All funds will be provided through the normal fiscal year 0 budgeting process. B. If necessary, the price for community college may be capped at a later date upon implementation of this legislation. SECTION. The law shall go into effect fiscal year 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Dany Matar Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
B/R #0 A BILL TO BAN PUSH NOTIFICATIONS ON ELECTRONIC DEVICE APPLICATIONS 0 SECTION. The United States Federal Government will ban all push notifications involving all smartphone, tablet, and other electronic device applications (apps). This will be done to reduce roadway accidents and deaths in the United States, as well as to increase workplace productivity. SECTION. Push notifications are defined as messages that pop up on mobile devices from app publishers. Examples of apps with push notifications that this bill will be affecting include, but are not limited to, social media, news sources, games, and general apps. SECTION. A. This legislation will be overseen by the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation (within the Department of State s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs) and the Department of Treasury. B. Corporations and businesses, which fail to comply with this legislation, will be penalized of $0,000 for each incident. SECTION. This bill shall go into effect on January, 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Angelica Sabol Wellington High School
B/R #0 THE COMPULSORY VOTING ACT OF 0 0 SECTION. A. The United States shall hereby use compulsory voting for all federal elections. B. Election Day is hereby declared a national holiday SECTION. Compulsory Voting is hereby defined as the process in which all eligible citizens are required to vote in federal elections. SECTION. A. The Federal Election Commission shall oversee this legislation. B. If an individual fails to follow Section A, said individual shall be given a fine of $0. This fine shall increase by $0 for every month the fine is not paid. The fine will cap out at $00. SECTION. This legislation shall go into effect in November, 00. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Andreas Kapsalis Xaverian High School
B/R#0 A BILL TO ADDRESS THE GROWING MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION CRISES 0 SECTION. In an effort address the growing mental health crisis, ten billion dollars will be appropriated with the goal of increasing research in mental health and instituting clinics to combat public health related issues. SECTION. Mental health issues are defined as schizophrenia and PTSD, while public health related issues broadly refers to opioid crisis and the institution of methadone clinics. SECTION. A. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Drug Agency will enforce this legislation. B. Both agencies will be required to submit a quarterly report of findings to the IRS to ensure funding is solely used for mental and public health issues. SECTION. Implementation shall occur by the start of the fiscal year 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Phillip A. Ruddy Xavier High School
CHAMBER Mfon Diduff Achievement First Brooklyn HS Christopher Matei American Heritage School - Plantation James Russo Chaminade HS Nathaniel Hylton Collegiate School Saumya Mangalick Edina HS Karim Limayem King High School Isabel Quililan Lake Highland Preparatory Layla Christie Miami Northland Senior Madison Motroni Millburn High School Devin Leonard Montville Adrija Sircar North Allegheny Sr HS Rachel Kalmanovich Pine View School Rafael Foncillas Regis High School David Goldstein Roslyn HS Jun-Yong Kim Seven Lakes High School Carter Hrabrick St. Joseph's Prep Cooper Scher Syosset HS Caroline Gallagher The Bronx High School Of Science Valerie Trapp Trinity Preparatory School Eric Dilts Western High School Michael-Scott Greco Xaverian Israel Pierre Xavier High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO CHECK NORTH KOREA 0 SECTION. A. The United States shall deploy two THAAD systems to Guam and deploy an additional THAAD system to South Korea B. The United States shall annually realocate billion dollars from the declared Military and Defense budget to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) so as to develop THAAD systems. C. The United States shall enact an embargo on North Korea. SECTION. THAAD systems refer to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antiballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short, medium, and intermediate range ballistic missiles. Additionally, embargo refers to an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country. SECTION. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) will work in conjunction with the Department of Defense (DOD) to enact this legislation. SECTION. This legislation shall go into effect immediately. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Christopher Matei American Heritage School Plantation
B/R 0 A BILL TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION IN ORDER TO GROW THE AMERICAN ECONOMY SECTION. A. This bill shall require any high school seeking federal funding to demonstrate that graduating students can pass a computer science competency exam. B. This bill shall allow any student who scored within the th percentile and who majors and graduates with an approved computer science degree to apply for student loan forgiveness after five years of employment within a related field. C. Any certified educator whose majority course load involves teaching a computer coding course at a high school shall be income tax exempt if they fall in the 0%, %, or % tax bracket. 0 0 SECTION. SECTION. A. Computer science competency exam shall be defined as an exam created by the College Board to test high school student coding proficiency. B. Approved computer science degree shall be defined as a bachelor of science in computer science, computer engineering, information systems, new media, information technology, and/or information science. C. Related field shall include but not to limited software developer, computer system analyst, computer science engineer, network systems administrator, database administrator, business intelligence analyst, web developer, computer programmer, software systems developer, and software quality assurance tester. D. Certified educator shall be defined as a professional who passes their state certification requirements. The Department of Education in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service shall be responsible for the implementation of this legislation. SECTION. This legislation shall go into effect for fiscal year 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Nathaniel Hylton Collegiate School
B/R #0 A BILL TO INCENTIVIZE MODERNIZATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS 0 SECTION. Construction firms that adopt Building Information Modeling (BMI) shall be given priorty when granting contracts. Moreover, the use of -D BMI shall be encouraged, as this version provides projections of the schedule and budget of a project. SECTION. Building Information Modeling shall be defined as a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a project. SECTION. The United States Department of Transportation shall over see the enforcement of this piece of legislation SECTION. Indicate the implementation in fiscal year 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Madison Motroni Millburn High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO SANCTION ETHIOPIA IN ORDER TO END THE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE 0 SECTION. The United States shall suspend all military and economic aid to Ethiopia, while allowing for the continuation of financial support for all current humanitarian assistance programs. SECTION. A. Military aid shall be defined as all weapons, military education and finances that goes toward the Ethiopian military or police forces. B. Humanitarian assistance programs shall be defined as food aid programs SECTION. The Department of State shall be charged with implementation of this legislation. SECTION. This bill shall take effect immediately upon passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Devin Leonard Montville Township
B/R #0 JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM ACT OF 0 0 SECTION. A. Mandatory minimums shall be abolished when pertaining to individuals under years of age. B. Night time curfews for minors shall be abolished. C. $. billion in block grants shall be provided on a state-by-state basis proportionally based on in-state crime rates for the establishment of juvenile rehabilitation programs. SECTION. Night time curfews shall be defined as any state-imposed laws that prohibit individuals under the age of from being in public or business establishment during certain hours. SECTION. The Department of Justice shall be responsible for enforcing the provisions of this bill. SECTION. The provisions shall take effect on October, 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Rachel Kalmanovich Pine View School
B/R #0 DIRECTIVE TO INVEST IN CHEAPER COVERAGE ACT 0 SECTION. The United States will negotiate lower Medicare Part D drug prices with pharmaceutical corporations and close the existing coverage gap to the rate of the initial coverage period. SECTION. A. Medicare Part D, also known as the Medicare prescription drug benefit, is a federal program to subsidize the cost of prescription drugs and insurance premiums for beneficiaries established in the Medicare Modernization Act of 00. B. The coverage gap, which comes into place after drug costs eclipse $,00, shall be set to the same rates as the initial coverage period. SECTION. The Department of Health and Human Services shall be responsible for negotiating favorable prices. SECTION. This bill will go into effect six months after passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Jun-Yong Kim Seven Lakes High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO AUTHORIZE LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL IN CYBER CONFLICT 0 0 SECTION : Congress hereby authorizes the President of the United States to issue letters of marque and reprisal to respond to, or prevent, certain acts of cyber-attack upon critical infrastructures of the United States, and other similar acts of hostility committed in the future. SECTION : Letters of Marque and Reprisal are defined by Article I, Sec. cl. of the Constitution of the United States. SECTION : The President is authorized to commission, under officially issued letters of marque and reprisal, so many of privately equipped persons and entities as, in his/her judgment, the Department of Defense or U.S. Intelligence Community may require, with suitable instructions and compensation to the leaders thereof, to employ electronic eavesdropping and intelligence gathering, computer network attack (CNA), computer network exploitation (CNE) and all electronic or digital means reasonably necessary to attribute, stop, disrupt, deceive, or otherwise render ineffective cyber-attacks conducted by unprivileged enemy belligerents outside the geographic boundaries of the United States and its territories, of any co-conspirator, and of any conspirator who are responsible for cyber-attacks or aggressions perpetrated against the United States SECTION : This legislation will go into effect at the start of Fiscal Year 0. SECTION : All other laws in conflict with this new policy shall hereby be declared null and void. Rep. Caroline Gallagher, The Bronx High School of Science
B/R #0 A BILL TO PROVIDE JORDAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 0 SECTION. The United States government shall allocate $00 million in humanitarian aid to Jordan to provide Jordan with water infrastructure. SECTION. Humanitarian aid shall be defined as money used for the construction of desalination plants, aqueducts, etc. SECTION. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will oversee the implementation of this legislation. A. USAID will oversee the usage of the money allocated in this legislation. B. The EPA will regulate desalinated water to both ensure and maintain safe drinking water. SECTION. This legislation will be implemented months upon passing. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Eric Dilts Western High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO AMEND THE LEAHY LAWS TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 0 0 SECTION. Subsection A of Section of Title of the United States Code shall be amended to read No assistance shall be furnished under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act [ U.S.C. et seq.] if any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights or if the Secretary of State has credible information that any foreign country s government has committed a federal action to limit religious freedom. SECTION. A. Federal action is defined as any legislation or executive action B. Religious freedom" is defined as those freedoms protected for US citizens under the Constitution, including but not limited to the free exercise of religion and free choice of religious affiliation. SECTION. The Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) shall oversee implementation of this legislation. A. The Department of State shall be tasked with continuing to monitor and catalogues assaults upon religious freedom throughout the world. B. The Department of State and USAID shall be tasked with the distribution/withholding of such units" as discussed in Section. SECTION. This legation shall go into effect January, 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Michael-Scott Greco Xaverian High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO SANCTION MYANMAR TO END THE OPPRESSION OF THE ROHINGYA PEOPLE 0 SECTION. The United States shall impose economic sanctions on the Republic of the Union of Myanmar until the oppression of the Rohingya people ceases. SECTION. The economic sanctions are defined as the freezing of all assets held by the Myanmar government in the United States. SECTION. A. The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Treasury will be responsible for the implementation of this bill. B. Sanctions shall be lifted if and when the Rohingya people are granted citizenship with basic rights and liberties. SECTION. These sanctions shall be implemented upon the immediate passage of this bill. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Layla Christie Miami Norland Senior H.S.
CHAMBER Raani Olanlege Achievement First Brooklyn HS Nicholas Andrian Alhambra High School Jonathan Bogen American Heritage HS - Delray Beach Jameson Burmeister Boca Raton Community HS Francesco Stigliano Chaminade HS Alex Bowman Chantilly Team Jonah Green Fox Chapel Nikhil Maddina King High School Nina Wyckoff Marriotts Ridge High School Logan Heller NSU University School Madison Suszek Parkersburg South High School Benjamin Nicholson Pine View School Michael Kuharski Regis High School Sam Lerner Roslyn HS Jeffrey Russell St. Joseph's Prep Christian Bae Stuyvesant HS Suhail Younus Syosset HS Garreth Hui The Bronx High School Of Science Suchritha Patlolla The Hun School Of Princeton Casey Bettencourt Walt Whitman Chase Jacobson Winston Churchill HS Michael Maisano Xaverian
B/R #0 A RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING PRESIDENT TRUMP TO REVERSE THE BAN OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN THE MILITARY WHEREAS, Transgender people are currently banned from joining the United States military and WHEREAS, Before President Trump implemented the ban, over,000 transgender individuals were serving in the United States military; and WHEREAS, The current status quo discriminates against people who are transgender via emotional, economic and social impacts; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, By this Congress that President Trump should reverse his ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military. Rep. Raani Olanlege Achievement First Brooklyn High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF OFFICERS WITH LETHAL WEAPONS 0 SECTION. The United States Federal Government shall allocate $ Million dollars for all states that purchase and train state and local police officer in the use of non-lethal weapons. SECTION. Non-Lethal Weapons are weapons explicitly designed and developed to incapacitate or repel personnel, with a low probability of fatality or permanent injury, or to disable equipment, with minimal undesired damage or impact on the environment. SECTION. The Department of Justice shall oversee the implementation of this bill. SECTION. This bill shall go into effect one year after passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Jonathan Bogen American Heritage Boca/Delray
B/R #0 A BILL TO COMBAT TERRORISM 0 SECTION. A. The United States will send billion dollars in military aid to Kurdish forces in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. B.,000 US Special Operations Forces (SOF) troops will be sent to assist, advise, and fight with the Kurdish forces. SECTION. Military aid shall include but not be limited to firearms, ammunition, body armor, and armored vehicles. SECTION. The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of State (DoS) shall be tasked with the implementation and enforcement of this legislation. SECTION. This legislation shall be implemented upon its passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Jameson Burmeister Boca Raton Community High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO INCREASE THE REGULATION OF FOOD STAMPS SECTION. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will tighten regulations on food stamps through multiple means to protect the system from abuse. 0 0 SECTION. SECTION. SECTION. SECTION. A. Employers shall be required to record social security numbers and average annual income of employees and send a report to the USDA. B. Employers shall be required to send a report to the USDA once an employee is no longer employed by their business. C. Individuals shall be required to report any change in number of cohabitants to the USDA. An official shall be sent in to confirm the status of the number of cohabitants at random. D. A computer database would keep track of every individual s social security number, his or her food stamp status, average annual household income, and number of cohabitants. If there is a discrepancy between an individual s average annual household income, number of cohabitants, and allotted amount of food stamps then the computer database would flag the individual for review. If flagged for review an official would be sent to confirm the data currently in the USDA database The USDA will enforce this legislation. A. If the USDA finds that an individual purposefully misreported any information to receive excess food stamps, then upon the first offence the amount of food stamps received will be cut by 0%, then upon the second offence the amount of food stamps received will be cut by 0% and they will be checked in on more frequently, upon the third offence the food stamps will be cut indefinitely and if there are children residing in the household then they will be taken out of the home. B. If the USDA cannot currently provide sufficient funds, this Congress will provide any additional funds needed for this project. This legislation shall be implemented within six months of passage.. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Madison Suszek Parkersburg South High School
B/R #0 BILL TO MAKE HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCIALLY ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL AMERICANS 0 SECTION. No institution of higher learning receiving federal funding may charge a student a total annual tuition of over 0% of the student s household gross aggregate income, when that household gross aggregate income is $00,000 or less. SECTION. A. Federal funding is defined as funding from the United States Treasury sent to the institution of higher learning. B. An institution of higher learning is defined as an establishment that offers formal learning for students who have completed secondary education, including universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, conservatories, and institutes of technology, as well as vocational schools, trade schools, and other career centers of higher education that award academic degrees or professional certification. C. Higher education where it pertains to this legislation includes both the undergraduate and graduate level. SECTION. The U. S. Department of Education will oversee the implementation of this legislation. SECTION. This bill will be implemented immediately after passage. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Alexandra Bowman Chantilly High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO FINE COMPANIES TO INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORKERS 0 SECTION. A. The American Unemployed Retraining Program (AURP) will be created for the purpose of providing a college education to unemployed individuals. This will be accomplished through student grants. B. Companies will be charged one million dollars for every,000 workers they fire in place of a machine. The money collected from these fines will fund the AURP. C. The AURP will distribute grants by giving those beneath the poverty line, those who must support families, and those who have been searching for jobs the longest priority. SECTION. A. Unemployed individuals will be defined as those who have been actively seeking a job for weeks unsuccessfully. B. Student grants will be defined as money handed out to help pay for tuition fees. SECTION. The U.S. Department of Labor will enforce the fines companies pay. The AURP will be overseen by the Department of Education and shall control the distribution of student grants. SECTION. This bill will be implemented October, 0. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Benjamin Nicholson Pine View School
B/R #0 A BILL TO ENACT DAPA AND DACA 0 SECTION. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents will be enacted into law. Persons who age out of DACA will be given the opportunity for permanent residence. The funding for this program, levied through a capping of tax deductions to cents on the dollar for the top % of earners will be used to modernize and improve the immigration process. Excess funding will be diverted back into the general reserve of tax revenue. SECTION. Age out shall be defined as the same as specified in the existing policy announced in 0. SECTION. The U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, along with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Agency and the Department of Homeland Security will provide enforcement. The approval of the funding increase will come from the Congressional Budget Office. SECTION.. This bill will go into effect one month after the indicated process is completed. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Suhail Younus Syosset High School
B/R #0 A BILL TO FUND THE PUBLIC DEFENDER S OFFICE 0 SECTION. A block grant program will be made available to all states and territories to pay and train public defenders. The block grant program will provide a maximum of $. billion total on a yearly basis. Each state and territory must receive a minimum of $ million, with the rest distributed according to population. SECTION. A. Public Defenders shall be defined as a public attorney appointed to represent a defendant who cannot afford to hire one. B. Block grant program shall be defined as a grant from the United States that a state or territory can allocate to the local public defender s office. SECTION. The Department of Justice shall oversee the enforcement of the bill along with the local circuit court. SECTION. This bill shall be effective on the first day of the next fiscal year. SECTION. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void. Rep. Garreth Hui The Bronx High School of Science